Distinguished Flying Cross Society Symposium

When:

Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 2:00pm

What:

Lecture / Presentation

Location:

William M. Allen Theater

The Distinguished Flying Cross Society will present a panel of recipients of the DFC from four conflicts in which American air power played a decisive role, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. The panel will be moderated by Glen Jewett. Speakers confirmed thus far include:

--Joseph W. Geary, a navigator in the B-24 Liberator during World War II who accumulated over 300 combat hours, including attacks on the famous Ploesti Oil Fields. He was awarded the DFC after an attack on Vienna where his aircraft sustained significant battle damage.

-- Admiral Thomas B. Hayward (ret.), a Word War II and Korean War aviator, who in April1953 earned the DFC after leading a series of well coordinated attacks against heavily defended targets in North Korea.

Admiral Hayward went on to become Commander of the 7th Fleet, Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS America, the US Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, and eventually Chief of Naval Operations from 1978 through 1982.

-- Charles (Chuck) Sweeney, who in September 1972 earned three DFC’s in one week flying a US Navy A-4 Skyhawk over North Vietnam; his first DFC came after he flew cover for the successful mission to rescue his downed wingman. Chuck Sweeney is currently the President and CEO of the Distinguished Flying Cross Society, and credits one of his former mentors (the famous astronaut Jim Lovell) for his decision to become a naval aviator.

Members of the DFC Society will be available afterward to sign the book, "On Heroic Wings: Stories of the Distinguished Flying Cross."

This program is included with Museum admission and is Free for members of the Museum of Flight.